Bagh Caves

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 14/12/2015

Altogether nine man-made rock temples or rock chambers, which have been carved from Nimar Sandstone (note 1) of the Cretaceous (Turonian) Bagh Beds and were used as »cave temples« (TOD, J 1829-1832 edited 1997, 1: 38 note 1), once contained paintings (note 2) and were used by Buddhist religion workers for religious purposes. ETYMOLOGY: No specific name has been identified for these man-made rock chambers called after a "nearby" populated place (some 6 or 7 km east of the caves), which nowadays is known as Bagh as it stands at the »confluence of the Wagh or Bagh and Girna streams, from the former of which it takes its name …« (IMPERIAL GAZETTER 1907-1909, 6: 183). »As usual, they [the rock temples] are known as the Panch Pandu, the five Pandava brothers [Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva] being supposed to have inhabited them« (IMPERIAL GAZETTER 1907-1909, 6: 184). Bagh caves ANAND, M R (1972: 2); BLANFORD, W T (1867: 6, 140); DEY, M C (1925a, 1925b, 1986) Baug caves DANGERFIELD, F (1818: 194; 1820: 108); HAMILTON, W (1828, 1: 154) Panch Pandoos DANGERFIELD, F (1818: 194; 1820: 108) Panch Pandou BADIN, A (1867, 1870, 1876, 1886) Panch Pandu TOD, J (1829-1832 edited 1997, 1: 38 note 1); IMPERIAL GAZETTER 1907-1909, 6: 184). SITUATION 1997: In the south of Malwa and about 40 km south-west of Dhar (N22°36': E75°18'), the »Bagh Caves are 7 km from the village of Bagh [N22°22': E74°46' at the confluence of the Bagh (Baug, Wagh) and Girna streams] and 3 km off the main road. Bagh is about 50 km west of Mandu, on the road from Indore to Vadadora in Gujarat« (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 791-792). SITUATION 1908: »Bagh.-- Village in the Amjhera district of Gwalior State … stands … in 22° 22' N. and 74° 48' E. … The famous caves, which lie about 4 miles [6.5 km, about -3.5” east] west of the village … are excavated in the face of a sandstone hill 850 feet [260 m] above the sea« (IMPERIAL GAZETTER 1907-1909, 6: 184). SITUATION 1882: »… the town of Bagh, 25 m. S.W. of Dhar, near which are Boodhist caves …« (SMITH, G 1882: 317). SITUATION 1828: »Four miles [6.5 km] S.S.E of Baug« (HAMILTON, W 1828, 1: 154). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1908: »Owing to the disintegration of a belt of clay stone superimposed on the sandstone, the roof of most of the caves have been destroyed. All of the caves, which number eight or nine, are iharas or monasteries, there being no chaitya hall or Buddhist church attached to them. In age they rank before the latest at Ajanta, and may be assigned to the sixth or seventh century A.D. In a room attached to the largest cave there existed formerly a series of frescoes equalling those at Ajanta. Unfortunately they were never copied and have now vanished. Fergusson, remarking on the appearance of the figures depicted, considers that they represented people of Central Asia and not of India« (IMPERIAL GAZETTER 1907-1909, 6: 184). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1882: »… Boodhist caves (viharas) of the 6th century, the homes of Hindoo mendicants, whose occupancy of them is shared by panthers« (SMITH, G 1882: 317). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1880 - not seen: BURGESS, J & FERGUSSON, J (1880: 159, 446). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1828: »… sculptured cave temples, four in number, but only the most northern remains in a state of preservation. The open area of one cave is eighty-four feet square, beside which there are many side rooms, and others further advanced into the hill« (HAMILTON, W 1828, 1: 154). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1818 - not seen: DANGERFIELD, F (1818; 1820). CULTURAL HISTORY -- cave legend: The Bagh caves are associated with the five Pandavas (Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva), the "good" in the Mahabharata (TOD, J 1829-1832 edited 1997, 1: 38 note 1). CULTURAL HISTORY -- rock art (wall paintings, frescoes): »Many of the Bagh cave paintings of the Gupta period have now been destroyed but whatever remain tell us about the high attainment during that period. There is a beautiful painting regarding music and dance, which is an example of the oriental Hallisak dance. The depiction of nature in its affluent forms, together with male and female figures in various emotional poses is the treasure of these caves« gyandoot.nic.in/dhar_district/demo.html (accessed 2005.10.06) after an unspecified District Gazetteer, Dhar published by Directorate of Gazetteers, Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal. ENTERTAINMENT (fabulous accoustic phenomenon): For the sake of pleasing the broadest possible variety of credulous readers, the free-lance writer Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (note 3) conjured having experienced at the Bagh Caves a horrible, if not unpleasant echo: »At our first word, everybody lowered their voices to a barely audible whisper. A hollow prolonged and slowly dying echo made us all shudder with an uneasy feeling …« (BLAVATSKY, H P 1892 edited 1899, 1908, 1918, 1934, 1950, 1975: 245). CAVE LIFE1882: »… Boodhist caves … "the homes of Hindoo mendicants, whose occupancy of them is shared by panthers, which appear to come and go without attempting to molest their fellow-lodgers"« (SMITH, G 1882: 317).